Conventionally, a wiper apparatus is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile. The wiper apparatus is configured to drive and swing a wiper arm to which a wiper blade is attached, and to wipe off substances such as rainwater and dust attached on a windshield. The wiper apparatus is provided with a pivot shaft to which an end part of the wiper arm is fixed, and with an electric motor which drives the pivot shaft. When an operation switch in the interior of the vehicle is operated, the electric motor is driven, and as a result, the wiper blade is configured to be swung via the pivot shaft.
A wiper apparatus provided with wiper arms in a driver-seat side and a front passenger-seat side, respectively, is provided with pivot shafts corresponding to the respective wiper arms. A link mechanism is provided between the pivot shafts and the electric motor, and the rotary motion of the electric motor is converted to swinging motion by the link mechanism, and the pivot shafts are configured to be swung in synchronization. This wiper apparatus is known as so-called “frame-integrated-type modular-type wiper apparatus”. In the modular-type wiper apparatus, a pair of pivot holders pivotally supporting the pivot shafts is fixed to both ends of a pipe-shaped frame member, and an electric motor is fixed to an approximately center part of the frame member (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-179132 (FIG. 2) (hereinafter simply referred to as “Patent Document 1”), and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-135971 (FIG. 3) (hereinafter simply referred to as “Patent Document 2”)).
The wiper apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is provided with a wiper motor having a motor main body and a reducer. The wiper motor is fixed to a pipe-shaped frame member via a motor bracket, and a pair of pivot holders is fixed to both ends of the frame member. The motor bracket is integrally provided with a bracket attaching part which is inserted and fixed to a vehicle-body panel. The wiper apparatus is fixed to the vehicle body by inserting the bracket attaching part to the vehicle-body panel and fixing the pivot holders to predetermined locations of the vehicle-body panel by bolts.
The wiper apparatus described in Patent Document 2 is provided with a wiper motor having a motor part and a gear part, and the wiper motor is fixed to a hollow frame having ends to which pivot holders are fixed. A housing which forms the gear part is integrally provided with a pair of attachment legs and a support pin. The attachment legs of the housing are fixed to the hollow frame with bolts and nuts, and the support pin of the housing is inserted into an insertion hole in the vehicle-body side. The wiper apparatus is fixed to the vehicle body by inserting the support pin into the insertion hole and fixing the pivot holders to predetermined locations in the vehicle-body side with bolts.